This summer, The Lab Press hits you with the ultimate suplex! After a successful Kickstarter campaign earlier in the year to bring this wild passion project to life, the award-winning new graphic novel publisher is delivering indie wrestling hit, Mad Dog Morgan, to the masses in a gorgeous new hardcover edition available in book and comic stores from August 4.
Created by Adam Lawson (The Exiled with Wesley Snipes, The Kill Journal) and co-written with Brian Christgau (Six-Gun Gorilla: Long Days of Vengeance, The Kill Journal: Finch), the book features gorgeous art by rising star Maxi Dall’O (Heavy Metal, Lost Fantasy), vibrant colors by Patricio Delpeche, and powerful letters by Dave Lentz. Equal parts The Wrestler and The Shining by way of House On Haunted Hill, Mad Dog Morgan is best described as “all-out indie wrestling meets a blood-soaked haunted house in an all-new original graphic novel.”
Mitchell “Mad Dog” Morgan always dreamed of making it to the big arenas in wrestling, but never managed to crawl his way out of the indies. They were right about him when they said he was “just another jabroni.” Determined to drink his troubles away, he wanders into a crumbling house that’s more than it appears to be—leading to a supernatural world of horror that feeds on the hopeless. As the house tries to break him, Morgan realizes all of his failures had prepared him for this pivotal moment. He was not born to wrestle in the ring, but to fight an ancient evil that preys on the lost. Bloodied, brutalized, and on the brink, this washed-up jabroni will rise up to become the main event–or die trying.
“Brian and I absolutely love classic horror, as well as the storytelling side of wrestling from the indies to the big leagues, so Mad Dog Morgan is essentially our love letter to those forms of entertainment,” says co-creator and co-writer, Adam Lawson. “We’ve seen these worlds cross over before with films like John Carpenter’s classic, They Live, starring the late great “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, but we wanted to create something which could exist today while capturing that timeless sensibility.”
The result is an action-packed thrill ride, clocking in at just over 180 pages, and made to the same exacting quality standards that all of The Lab Press books are known for. Designers John J. Hill and Emma Price have created a distinct visual identity for the publishing line, which has seen them recognized with numerous awards, including three at the prestigious IBPA+PubWest Book Design Awards in May this year.
“Adam and the team had a clear vision for Mad Dog Morgan, which made it (and them) a good match for what we’re doing at The Lab Press,”adds The Lab’s editor-in-chief, Dagen Walker.“They already had an engaged fanbase, who were keen to see the project brought to life, so it was our pleasure to help them realize that in our own unique way and then bring it to a wider audience. Aside from presenting a thrilling and unsettling horror story, Mad Dog makes you question the nature of pain and torment, as well as the way in which our destinies unfold.”
Take a look at new preview pages from the book below:
Mad Dog Morgan will arrive first in comic shops on July 29, before it debuts in book stores and online from August 4. The book features a main cover by interior artist Maxi Dall’o, and will be followed by a special Limited Edition cover featuring art by J.D. Knight. You can order it now from Amazon or your local book/comic shop.
